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Council calls for bylaw trail patrols More staff hires, bush clearing and wider trails also suggested as ways to make Frame Lake safer
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Friday, August 30, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
City council is calling for an increased bylaw presence on the McMahon Frame Lake Trail in the wake of a sexual assault that was reported there in July.
City councillor Dan Wong stands on the McMahon Frame Lake Trail at the bottom of Gitzel Street. He says the path there is too narrow and is in generally poor condition. Wong is one of several councillors calling for an increased bylaw presence on the trail. He is also suggesting that the trail be widened to encourage more traffic, which he believes would deter assaults. - Cody Punter/NNSL photo |
"I think our trail is unsafe," said city councillor Niels Konge. '"In the number of years that I've been in Yellowknife, which is 13, maybe not every year but every second year we hear these stories of women being attacked and assaulted on the trail.
"Now as a councillor, I've had several women come up to me and ask, 'What are you going to do about the trail?'"
Konge is one of several councillors suggesting bylaw officers should be making regular foot patrols along Frame Lake.
"I'd like to see our own bylaw officers walking out there at certain times of the day. We have our own police force so let's use them," said Konge.
During Monday's municipal services committee meeting, Sgt. Stephen Burrill told council that the RCMP is still investigating the sexual assault that occurred on the trail on July 30. A woman reported to police that a man approached her from behind near Somba K'e Park and sexually assaulted her. The unidentified man remains at large.
According to Dennis Marchiori, director of public safety, municipal enforcement officers currently spend most of their time patrolling the city's streets for traffic infractions - especially in school zones.
While they occasionally go on the trail to respond to specific bylaw infractions, they do not actively patrol the area.
Some councillors took Konge's proposal even further and suggested that the city should look at expanding the size of its force.
"I would like to see a proposal for an increased presence that is not necessarily part of the existing budget," said Adrian Bell.
The city's municipal enforcement division is currently composed of 13 staff, including eight bylaw officers. Four officers are on shift at any given time during regular working hours, which are 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. during the summer and 7 a.m. to midnight during winter.
"If it's a question of manpower and budget, I think that council needs to make a decision to make this happen," said Coun. Linda Bussey.
While councillors agree the municipal enforcement division needs to have more of a presence on the trails, the question was raised about whether bylaw officers would need a wider mandate, such as intervening in violent assaults as the RCMP would, in order to fulfill those duties.
Marchiori said whether or not the role of bylaw officers needed to be expanded would depend on what council's goals are.
Marchiori said bylaw officers currently have a mandate to patrol the trail to enforce municipal bylaws, such as littering, public drunkenness and illegal squatting.
During the meeting, it was suggested by both councillors and administration, that bylaw officers could spend more time on the trail enforcing those bylaws without focusing on actually enforcing the criminal code.
"It's not necessarily just for enforcement," said Marchiori. "It's more of a visual presence to deter anything on the trail."
He added that if a bylaw officer were to witness an assault while patrolling the trail, it would be within their powers to intervene.
"We do have the powers to arrest. It's not something we stringently use all the time, but it's within our mandate," said Marchiori.
Several other measures to improve safety on the trail were also proposed during the meeting, including adding lights and emergency phones as well as clearing trees to improve visibility.
"I have no problems cutting down trees if it makes our residents safer," said Konge.
Several councillors are also suggesting that the quality of the trail itself should be improved.
Coun. Dan Wong said the current trail, which measures 2.2 metres wide, is too narrow and that it is poorly paved in some parts.
He said if the trail was widened and better maintained, it would increase traffic in the area and reduce the probability of attacks in the area.
"The public needs to be safe on that trail and that's the bottom line," said Wong.
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